________________ The form of the Gitagovinda : The form of the Gitagovinda is extremely original and has led different scholars to designate it differently. Jones calls it a little pastoral drama.' Lassen styles it'a lyric drama.' Von Schroeder refers to it as "a lyric-dramatic poem " and "a refined Yatra." Pischel and Levi, on the other hand, place it in a category bet. ween song and drama on the ground, inter alia, that it is already removed from the type of yatra by the fact that the transition verses are put in a firm mould and not left to improvisation. Pischel also calls it a melodrama. The facts are, however, clear : the poet divides the poem into cantos. this division into cantos proves that the poet knew that it belonged to tho generic type Kavya. Though he has called his poem a Kavya he does not conform to the conventional pattern of a Kavya. He has introduced a number of songs, the beauty of which can be enjoyed when they are set to music and dancing. In one of the verses the poet says : his song is to be staged before our mental eyes. The combination of narration, description and speech closely interwoven with songs gives the poem a form of its own and defies all conventional classification. Regarding the form, it would not be wrong to quote in full the following observation of Keith " The art of the poet displays itself effectively in the mode in which song and recitative are blended and the skill with which monotony of form is avoided by not restricting the recitative to mere introductory verses explaining the situation, while the songs express in their turn the feelings of the personell of the poem, Krsna, his favourite Radha, and the faithful friend, who is the essetial confidante of every Indian heroine. Recitative is used for occasional narrative verses to explain the situation, but also in brief descriptions, and, as a mode of securing variety, in speeches which serve as an al. ternative to songs as the mode of intimating the sentiments of the characters" (p. 192 ) Origin of the Gitagovinda : In its form the Gitagovinda is unique in Sanskrit and has almost created a new literary genre. It does not strictly follow the tradition of the Sanskrit Kavya but bears close affinity to the spirit and style of Apabhramsa. The musical padavalis, which form the vital elemeut of the poem are composed in Sanskrit but they reflect the Apabhramsa manner of expression. The rhymed and melodious measures, with their refrains, are not akin to older Sanskrit metres. On account of these peculiar features it has been claimed by Pischel, and following him, by S. K. Chatterji, that the work (Gitagovinda) derives from an original in Apabhramsa. Keith and Dey stoutly refute this theory of translation from an original in Apabhramsa. Keith rightly (1) stranufafacufata of He Canto IV-9 (2) Keith: History of Sanskrit Literature, pp. 197-198; Dasgupta and Dey: History of Sanskrit Literature, pp. 394-395
